Lavender Ribbons and Iron Shackles Teen Summer Book Club

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Well, Sue Monk Kidd’s new book, The Invention of Wings, is set in the pre-Civil War era and explores the lives of the Grimke sisters who were born and raised in South Carolina and then moved to Philadelphia because they did not believe in slavery. Although the book is historical fiction, the Grimke sisters are real people who lived in Philadelphia and were part of the Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society. The Historical Society, located at 13th and Locust, is inviting ten high school girls, rising 9th-12th graders, to join a book club where we will spend 5 weeks reading the novel and experiencing Philadelphia as the Grimke sisters did. And book club members will recieve the book free!

Participants will meet on Wednesday afternoons from June 24th to July 22nd to enjoy discussion of the book, refreshments, and read actual letters written by the Grimke Sisters and Lucretia Mott as well as see the Arch Street Meeting house where the women held many of their meetings. Also, as a culminating experience, we will allow our book club members to hold a Q&A with successful women from the Philadelphia area who are making a difference every day. For more information, please email the education manager, Alicia Parks, at aparks@hsp.org(Transportation scholarships are available upon request).